Constitution expert Laurence Tribe on Saturday explained how Speaker Nancy Pelosi has legal standing to sue President Donald Trump over his declaration of a national emergency to build his border wall.

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Prof. Tribe has taught at Harvard Law for fifty years and has argued three dozen cases before the United States Supreme Court.

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“Trump’s actions clearly violate the Congress’s exclusive power of the purse, which our Founders enshrined in the Constitution,” Pelosi tweeted. “The Congress will defend our constitutional authorities in the Congress, in the Courts, and in the public, using every remedy available.”

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Tribe agreed, while explaining a potential remedy at the Speaker’s disposal.

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“The House of Representatives has standing to sue Trump in the US district court for DC,” Tribe noted.

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He cited a 2015 case as precedent.

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“Speaker Pelosi shouldn’t hesitate to take Trump to court. She’ll have a compelling case,” he explained.

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Here are some of his additional thoughts on the national emergency:

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I’m with @RepJerryNadler here. Calling Trump’s frustration with our form of government an “emergency” so he can seize authority from Congress to placate his base is grossly abusive and blatantly lawless. He can’t be allowed to get away with it. https://t.co/YmiOv8a2Fr

The Senate voted 83-16, the House 300-128, to authorize $1.375 billion in public money to be spent for more physical barrier on the southern border. Nothing in the National Emergencies Act gives Trump any power to spend a dollar more than the $1.375 billion Congress appropriated

This argument that Dems strengthened Trump’s legal hand has it backwards. By appropriating $1.375 for a fence and specifying NO MORE WALL, Congress made it crystal clear that Trump is defying its will, not implementing it. https://t.co/ptE9r4mqSc

No emergency, for sure. But it turns out the BIGGEST legal weakness in Trump’s defense is that NONE of the federal laws his so-called “emergency” declaration triggers actually authorizes constructing even one mile of his wall! Guess he didn’t get around to reading the statutes! https://t.co/TsBwvPeTlZ

The House of Representatives has standing to sue Trump in the US district court for DC. See (ironically) US House of Representatives v. Burwell (2015)(Boehner’s ACA suit against Obama’s HHS). @SpeakerPelosi shouldn’t hesitate to take Trump to court. She’ll have a compelling case. https://t.co/6XTDmq5yVS

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